Joseph M. Mazzarella

My primary research goals aim toward an improved understanding of the origin and evolution of galaxies on both extremes of the luminosity function--- those that contain the most luminous starbursts and active galactic nuclei (AGNs) on one side, and dwarf galaxies on the other. Most of my published work involves observational studies of the morphology, interstellar medium and stellar populations of galaxies that are tidally interacting and merging. Such systems are typically very luminous in the far-infrared due to ultraviolet radiation from embedded stars or AGNs which is re-processed by copious amounts of dust in their nuclear regions. I am also engaged in various "data mining" projects to identify interesting objects and characterize galaxy samples using statistical analysis of very large astronomical archives. My research commonly utilizes multiwavelength data that are organized, integrated and accessible through the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED, http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/) and its connectivity with distributed archive services on the Internet. I currently design and develop science archive services for NED, and also contribute to collaborations that involve construction of distributed Virtual Observatory software. More information about projects that I have worked on and my publication list can be viewed at http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/mazz/vita.html.